Alicia Gossman-Steeves: Confess negligence and ask for healing

I found out this week while I was wasting time taking a quiz on Facebook that I am very much like Beowulf. I'm confident; I stick to my beliefs and I would rather die than ask a friend for help.

Alicia Gossman-Steeves

I found out this week while I was wasting time taking a quiz on Facebook that I am very much like Beowulf. I'm confident, I stick to my beliefs, and I would rather die than ask a friend for help.

Yes, I guess that fits me pretty well. Asking for help is not one of my strong points, but I am learning.

I am usually a healthy person, but when I get sick, I get sick. Last week, I was ill five days in a row. I felt awful. Toward the middle of the week, not only was I sick, I started to get bored. There's only so much daytime television a body can watch before pinging off the walls.

While I was ill, I was doing everything I could to get better. I rested, stayed hydrated, took medicine, but the process took much longer than I wanted. It was during this time of impatience that I read Sirach 38 from the Apochrypa in preparation for last week's commentary and verse nine pricked my heart: "... when you are sick do not be negligent, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you."

Why hadn't I thought of that? It was that Beowulf syndrome, I guess.

It was time to confess my negligence and ask God for help.

That was Day 3. God didn't heal me right away, but I did have a better frame of mind. Instead of being bored, I accepted my situation and truly rested.

Why are we so reluctant to ask for God's help? We pray for others; we pray for situations. Why is it difficult to pray for ourselves?

Sometimes I believe it is difficult to pray for myself because my faith tells me to put others first. That is great, but Scripture says to "love your neighbor as yourself." If we pray for our neighbor, why not pray for ourselves?

Another reason may be that I forget where I came from. All of my successes and even my good health are gifts from God. When I am ill, or need something, I should ask God for help. The old song that says "he never has failed me yet," is true. Experience has shown me that God either sends help, or gives me the mental reasoning to figure out what needs to be done. Sometimes I just have to be patient, like last week when I was ill.

If you are ill this week, take time to talk to God. Ask him to heal you and also be open to what he might want to say. Physical sickness can be a time to clean out the soul and to think about our direction. Physical illness is also a time to grow in patience as you rest and wait.